Someone Like You
by Shadowdib
Summary: Songfic oneshot. After years have passed, and Zim goes to see Dib, realizing that the hyuman has moved on, what happens? Does the irken dwell in the past... Or embrace the present? 'Never mind, I'll find someone like you...'


A/N Bolded lyrics are song lyrics, when they're in italics too that mean that it's Zim thoughts, and inside quotation marks obviously means they're spoken. I had to edit the lyrics a tad, but it's pretty minor-mostly to make them seem in character, just a word here and there. I've always loved the concept of Dib having a kid who he passes on his enemy-ship of Zim to, and I was surprised that no one has written an IZ fic with this song-it just seems to fit perfectly, at least to me. Oh, and even though this may be a bit of a romance song, no ZaDr. None, nada, zip. A bit of ZaDf, but not too much of that either. The only relationship is Dib/Gretchen, and we don't see anything really of that.

Song © Adele

Zim, Gretchen, and Dib © Jhonen Vasquez

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**I heard that you're settled down, that you found a girl and you're married now**

Zim tightened his fists, gritting his pink zippered teeth.

_Why are you here? He's your enemy! _The Irken sighed. _Not anymore… _He curled his fingers together. Twenty years. Twenty years since he'd landed on this spinning ball of filth. Twenty years since meeting… him. The Dib-hyuman. All of the pathetic earth children in his skool class had grown to impossible heights, (They hadn't earned it in any way either!) and in such a short time. On Irk, twenty years was nothing-a heartbeat. Here, in this strange, backward society, twenty years was very, very long. Children were born, raised, and moved from their lodgings to live on their own.

_Don't be a coward!_ He screamed at himself, and he tensed his body, before letting out his breath with a long sigh and curling his claws into a fist before rapping on the familiar blue door. He tapped his foot-how dare they keep the mighty Zim waiting! - Until the door creaked open a moment later by a lavender-haired woman in her mid thirties. Or twenties-it was tricky to tell. On Irk, everyone looked the same-here, everything depended on appearances. It was strange, but he'd mostly gotten used to it.

"Z-Zim?" The woman stuttered, her voice familiar, but her identity had been washed away by the shifting sands of time. "Wow, you haven't changed at all…" She stepped back. "You don't even have to ask." The woman ushered him into the house. When Zim scanned the living room he'd entered, he realized that very little had changed. The wallpaper, the Professor Membrane light fixtures, even the dark red couch were all the same.

"I'll go get him." The female said, glancing down at Zim before hurrying up the stairs. The Irken plopped himself down on the couch, picking at a loose thread.

_What will you say?_ He hissed at himself. Thirteen years, five months, and thirteen days since he'd last seen the hyuman. Not that he was keeping track. No, the hyuman wasn't worth his time-this was just to see what he was doing now. Just keeping tabs on him, nothing more.

"Who is it?" A voice called from upstairs. It was too low, but unmistakably the same voice that had taunted him nearly every day for the first few months and beyond on this stupid planet. A shadow appeared on the wall, and Zim suddenly felt nervous, but he swallowed his apprehension and sat up as straight as he could. When the man came into the light, Zim instinctively studied him up and down. He was much taller, the Irken noticed with disgust, and one of his ears was pierced, with a single earring shaped like a ghost flying around with each step. His glasses had been switched with a much narrower pair that made his glare more pinpointed. Oh, and he was wearing a dark red shirt with-Zim jolted back a bit- a dark green Armada symbol. Otherwise, nearly everything was the same as it had always been-long black trench coat, weird hair lock thingy, even though it looked more like a lightning bolt now, black boots but with silver buckles. The man looked to Zim, and his eyes widened.

"Zim?" The Irken let the next name slide past his lips with only a hint of poison.

"Dib." The man crossed the room quickly and sat down beside the extraterrestrial.

"This was unexpected. I haven't seen you in… at least thirteen years." The little invader shrugged.

"Time moves quickly, Dib-monkey. You should know that. So…" He cleared his throat and asked awkwardly, "…How have you been?" The man looked down at the alien and started chuckling.

"After all these years, you still can't make normal conversation!" He laughed. Zim leapt up, his boots sinking into the couch as he pulled Dib's collar close to him.

"Don't. Laugh. At. Me." The Irken hissed. Dib held up his hands in surrender and Zim reluctantly let him go.

"Well, a lot has happened in thirteen years." Dib massaged his throat for a moment.

"**I heard that your dreams came true."** Zim said quietly. "Who's the female who answered the door?"

"Oh, that's my wife, Gretchen. Remember her? She was the one with the braces back in elementary skool. She was perfect for me-awkward, clunky, and not very good at connecting with people." Dib laughed again. Zim didn't even bother trying to smile. He hated the Gretchen-female for taking up all of the Dib's time.

_All the fights, all the fire, the sparks in each little battle for the fate of the planet, you seem to forget that__**. **__I__** guess she gave you things I didn't give to you… **_Dib noticed Zim's glum look.

"Are you okay?" Zim waved the suggestion that he was in any way 'not okay' off with a flip of his gloved wrist. The hyuman played with his fingers, shifting away from the lamplight, back into the shadows.

"**Oh Dib, why are you so shy?"**

_**It's not like you to hold back, or hide from the light… **_Dib shrugged.

"I don't know. It's just… geez, it's been so long, Zim."

"**I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited..."**

_**But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it…**_

"Well, I'm kind of glad you did." Dib said quietly. "I've gotten everything I ever wanted. I did become a paranormal investigator, and now I have a loving wife and two great kids. I have everything. I've moved on." He leaned in closer to Zim, who automatically scooted back. "You're still stuck in the same loop as when you landed here twenty years ago. Time stood still for you."

**I hoped you'd see my face, and that you'd be reminded that for me, it isn't over.**

"That's not true! I went through Hi Skool with you and the rest of the horrible skool children!"

"Yes, but what happened after that?" Dib challenged. Zim puffed up his chest, trying to look taller and more proud.

"I studied your planet through other resources."

"Like what, the internet? Face it, Zim, you're still the same egotistical moron who landed on Earth twenty years ago." At that comment, Zim bared his teeth at the man.

"Zim is not a mo-ron!"

"Remember the 'real science' phase? Zim, I've seen you wandering around town lately. You're lost. You need an enemy, don't you?" Zim turned his face away, still remembering all the good-and bad-times they had gone through together. Perhaps the Dib might be a little right. Just a little…

**Never mind, I'll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you too.**

"No…" He looked to the small trophy case across the room. Many of them were awarded to Dib, for various achievements in the field of the paranormal. None of them, Zim realized, had anything to do with him. Dib was right-the hyuman had moved on. It was the Irken who hadn't.

**Don't forget me, I beg, I remember you saying…**

"**Sometimes it lasts in love, and sometimes it hurts instead…" **Zim whispered. He remembered during one of the truces, Dib was explaining one of the hyuman emotions, 'love', after Zim had caught two of their schoolmates slapping each other before pressing their lips and bodies together behind the gym. It still didn't make sense to him, all those emotions, and how they could change so quickly.

"What was that?" Dib asked.

"Oh, nothing." He took a deep breath. **"You know how the time flies… seems like only yesterday was the time of our lives…" **Zim muttered. Dib grinned.

"**I was born and raised in a muted haze…" **They said at the same time,

"**Blinded by the successes of our glory days…"**Both human and Irken turned their heads away from each other. Zim stood up.

"Well, I suppose I should go. It's been, eh…interesting to see you, Dib-monkey." Dib smiled-not a cocky grin, not a triumphant smirk, but a genuine smile.

"It's been good to see you too_, _space boy." Zim felt like his squeedlyspooch had expanded to fill his entire chest. He hadn't been called that in… well, in thirteen years, five months, and thirteen days. He got up and carefully made his way to the door. The Irken sighed, his thoughts whirling at the strange feelings in his chest after the visit. All of their times together, enemies or no, flashed through his mind in the time it took him to cross to the threshold.

_**Nothing compares, no worries or cares, **__to the time we fought. __**"**_**Regrets and mistakes, and memories made…" **Zim muttered to himself. The irken's emotions were being yanked around like Gir on a sugar rush-first strangely happy to see the Dib after so long, then bitter that the stupid hyuman didn't seem to even care about exposing him anymore.

_**Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste? **_

"Wait! Zim!" Dib called. Zim gritted his teeth and slowly rotated around, locking gazes with the hyuman.

"I want you to meet my kids." The hyuman called something up the stairs, and there was a sudden stampede of footsteps. From the shadows, it looked like one was sliding down the banister and the other was taking the stairs. When they were at the bottom, Zim blinked, rubbing his eyes. It was kind of creepy, seeing his enemy's offspring. The boy, who couldn't have been more than a smeet of six or seven, had on a tee and jeans, both a matching light blue without any design that went well with his baby blue eyes. The girl appeared to be roughly what Dib's age had been when Zim had first landed, and had black hair tied back in a horse-tail. (At least that's what Zim thought it was called.) Her clothes were a maroon long sleeved shirt, black fingerless gloves, and black jeans. Dib pulled the younger one, the boy, forward first. The older one was staring at the Irken open-mouthed.

"Zim, this is Miles." Dib said, trying to ignore his daughter's shocked expression. The child danced up to Zim and hugged him. Zim instantly tried to pull him off, shoving the boy away. Dib only laughed at his rival's discomfort. "He's a hugger…"

"Get him off!" Zim squealed, not wanting to use his Pak legs for fear one of the offspring might figure out his identity. Dib decided to have mercy and whistled, so 'Miles' danced back to his sibling. Before Dib could introduce her, the girl walked right up to Zim.

"I'm Ari. I know what you are, _space monster_." She hissed the last two words, her eyes glinting. Zim stumbled back, and said the first thing that came to his head-an old standby that had helped him through all his years on earth.

"Eh… I'm... normal?" Dib busted out laughing, doubling over.

"Zim… Ari definitely takes after me. She practically _lives_ my old room." He choked out through his giggling fit. Ari looked up to her dad, pointing frantically at Zim.

"Dad, dad, you _know_ he's an alien! How come he's here? Shouldn't you be capturin-" Dib had walked up to his daughter, and silenced her with one waving finger.

"Sweetie… it's not my fight... Not anymore." He turned to Zim, and winked before leaving, taking the male smeet with him and leaving Zim alone with Ari. The alien suddenly got the message.

_**Never mind… I've found someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you too… Just don't forget me. **_A grin suddenly spread across Zim's lips, and he swore he could feel a spark jump behind his contacts… a spark that reignited a dying flame.

Ari matched his grin, her smirk reminiscent of Gaz's. Zim shook off the déjà-vu and chuckled. The girl cocked her head, an almost questioning look behind her deep green eyes.

"What's so funny, space boy? I swear, even if dad won't, I'll expose you for the horrible alien menace you are! " Zim only threw back his head and laughed as hard as he could, his 'mad scientist' cackle. When it died down, he locked gazes with his new foe.

"Now… stink-beast… let the games begin."

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A/N Okay, I went through like four names for Ari before I decided on this one. I'm pretty proud of this story, at least compared to my others. Please rate and review.

Edit-I already have a favorite, but they didn't review. If you like it, please tell me why.


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